Who will win this group?

Subasic (as monaco)
Kalinic (la gantoise)
Livakovic (dinamo zagreb)

Vrsaljko (atletico madrid)
Corluka (lokomotiv moscow)
Vida (dynamo kiev going to besiktas)
Lovren (Liverpool)
Mitrovic (Besiktas)
Strinic (Sampdoria)
Jedvaj (Leverkusen)

Modric (real madrid)
Rakitic (barcelona)
Badelj (fiorentina)
Brozovic (inter milan)
Kovacic (real madrid)
Rog (napoli)
Pasalic (spartak moscow)

Mandzukic (juventus)
Kalinic (AC Milano)
Perisic (Inter milan)
Pjaca (juventus)
Kramaric (hoffenheim)
Rebic ( eintracht frankfurt)

Outside chances:

Pivaric (dinamo kiev)
Benkovic (dinamo zagreb)
Caleta car (red bull salzburg)
Sosa (dinamo zagreb)

Ante Coric (dinamo zagreb)
Balic (Udinese)
Krovinovic (Benfica)

Vlasic (everton)
Halilovic( las palmas)
Perica (udinese)
Brekalo (stuttgart)

 

Yeah, Nigeria sure isn't France. We knew that when the US "ref" Mark Geiger robbed us of a deserved victory against them in the last WC. Iceland have simply not faced a team like Nigeria before. I was using France as a rough approximation.

 

Why would Iceland necessarily beat anybody?

I don't see it happening. The WC will likely me too much for them. There are plenty of examples of teams successful in euro competitions that just don't translate to the world scene. I see Iceland as one of those.

 

Hasn't he been calling Dario Benedetto a lot lately?

 

I answered this question in my post that you just responded to.

I'm not saying they will be a major success, I just think they will avoid last place.

Plenty of such examples of UEFA teams finishing last? Hmmm… well, England was the only one in 2014. The self-inflicted disaster that occurred in the France camp in 2010 has literally zero chance of happening to this close-knit Iceland team.
The most relatable example of a UEFA team finishing dead last lately is probably Serbia in 2010. But they didn’t have the pedigree that this Iceland team has, which takes us back to my original point.
But yeah, this is a tough group. That's the only thing that makes me doubt my prediction.

 

Of course nobody knows exactly what the coach has in mind, but the names below are very likely to be on the plane to Russia for Nigeria:

GK
Uzoho (La Coruna, ESP)
Ezenwa (I Ubah FC, NGA)
Akpeyi (Chippa U, NGA)

DF
Idowu (Amkar perm, RUS)
Shehu (Anorthosis, CYP)
Balogun (Mainz, GER)
Awaziem (Nantes, FRA)
Troost (Bursaspor, TUR)
Ebuehi (Den Haag, NED)

MF
Obi (Torino, ITA)
Onazi (Trabzonspor, TUR)
Mikel (Tianjin, CHN)
Ndidi (Leicester, ENG)
Iwobi (Arsenal, ENG)
Ogu (Hapoel, ISR)
Etebo (Feirense, POR)
Agu (Bursaspor, TUR)
Moses (Chelsea, ENG)

FW
Iheanacho (Leicester, ENG)
Simon (Genk, BEL)
Ighalo (Changchun, CHN)
Musa (Leicester, ENG)
Nwakaeme(Free), Martins(Shenhua, CHN) or Akpala(Oostende, BEL) for the last striker spot

Long shot
Enyeama (Lille, FRA) for Akpeyi
Echiejile (Sivasspor, TUR) for Idowu
Onyekuru (Everton, ENG) for Musa
Aina (Chelsea, ENG) for Shehu

 

Not so sure Mitrovic makes the team. He doesn't play at all for Besiktas. I have a feeling Benkovic will make it over him. Kid is very talented and will probably be sold for big money in the summer. As far as the outside chances i hope it's Vlasic that makes it.. As a fan of Hajduk i have watched this kid many times and he is the real deal. Vlasic game reminds me of Hazard. When Vlasic has been given a chance to play at Everton he has played well. I have also read good things about Krovinovic from Benfica fans. Some of there fans have compared Krovinovic to Modric.

 

Tore his ACL recently. Even if he comes back in April or May he won't have enough time to regain form and compete with the likes of Higuian or Icardi.

 

Common you were not close to winning it. You had a goal disallowed, but that is pretty much it. Its not like you were going to win the game. Also who knows what would have happened if the goal was allowed? Teams approach games very differently according to the scoreline at certain times.

 

That is pretty much it? Are you serious? You obviously did not watch the game.

Let's list Geiger's infuriating mistakes in that match

1. Goal disallowed

2. Evra bear hugging Odemwingie in the French box on a Nigerian corner, right next to the ball. PK not called



3. Giroud elbows Mikel in the face. He is not sent off.

4. Matuidi breaks Onazi's ankle with a very violent tackle. He is not sent off. See 0:17 of the video below for the violent details.



(I believe Zahzah has this incident as his profile pic on these boards). Onazi (Nigeria's most influential player) is unable to continue and Matuidi is not sent off. Up until then Nigeria had France on the back foot.

After Onazi left the game as a result of Matuidi's foul, France gained the upper hand. We should have been up by at least 1 goal and by at least one man by 70' of that game.

Mark Geiger should not be refereeing any game above Sunday pub level, but I understand FIFA has him penciled down as a ref for the next WC.

 

Good, 'cause those two are better, anyway.

 

Geiger is the worst ref I have ever seen on an international stage. He also royally screwed up a Goldcup semifinal a few years back blatantly robbing Panama. I think it was against Mexico.

Only reason he keeps getting called is because he is American. That kind of garbage would simply not be tolerated if he were from a number of other places.

 

Aina isn't a long shot. He is the one that is most likely going. Also Akpala and Nwakeme aren't going. I am almost certain of that. Akpala has never been called up by Rohr and I'm almost certain he wouldn't call him up especially when Onyekuru is in better form. I would thik Onyekuru would be the last spot.

Also both Shehu and Aina would make it.

 

Sorry but Nigeria isn't Turkey and we won't take them lightly. I think Iceland gets a little overrated here because they play like Burnley with Anti football tactics.

 

We have the technical players to unlock their defense. Players like Mikel, Iwobi, Victor Moses and Moses simon have the tools to pick through tight defenses.

We aren't just a team that depends on pace like many who don't know crap about African teams think.

 

Everyone says they won't take Iceland lightly, but they do anyway, at least the first time they play them. It is human nature. Such a tiny place, just an iceberg out in the North Atlantic.

 

You think this is a new development? They do this with African nations. You can ask Bulgaria in 1994, Spain in 1998, Bosnia in 2014 heck even Argentina in 2017.

It doesn't matter how big or small the nation is we will take them on.

In addition to that I feel that those outside of Africa even some of those in Africa underestimate African teams and give the same RACIST stereotypes about African teams not being disciplined and underestimating the tactical part of their play and thinking that we only focus on the physical part of play, that we can only run, that pace is our only attribute. You will be sadly surprised as the rest of the World will.

 

I'm not Icelandic, I'm Danish. Denmark has played several African countries in the World Cup, and never lost.

 

I know that Vlasic has been very good at Hajduk and with the u21 i just don't know if the everton's coach will give him enough time.
What about nikola moro? Do you think that he got a bright future?

 

I did not even include Omeruo, Agbo and Mohammed, who have been called up a lot by Rohr during the qualifiers but rarely used. If Omeruo makes the squad, then one of Shehu, Ebuehi and Aina will probably not make it. Torunarigha (the German-Nigerian defender) could also still be in the picture.

Nwakaeme has been called up a lot more by Rohr than Onyekuru during the qualifiers, although Onyekuru seems to have played more minutes.

I included Akpala for the x factor but perhaps it would have been better to replace him with Osimhen of Wolfsburg, because he is much younger and we know Rohr likes German based players.

There is also Kelechi Nwakali of Arsenal, who I should have included in the long shot category.

Anyway, let's see the list of players you think might make it.

 

I know you are Danish. It says Denmark on your location in your profile. But because Denmark hasn't lost to an African side doesn't mean it can't happen in the future, nor that an African side can't beat Iceland.

Like I said. times have changed. At one point African sides weren't making out of the group stage and Iceland was a minnow in World Football. Times change.

 

Akpala is 31 years old and isn't even prolific, he isn't in the conversation. Nwakeme is a maybe, he has only played twice under Rohr and hasn't impressed. Also I think that Rohr rates, Aina, Awaziem and Ebuehi more than he rates Omeruo. Agbo and Mohammed probably won't even get called up for future friendlies.

 

True. I feel Iheanacho, Ighalo, Simon and Ahmed Musa will definitely make the squad for the striker position. The rest of the strikers are fighting for maybe one remaining spot.

 

If any additional out and striker makes it my guess would be Martins. He has the skill, experience and is prolific enough to make a difference at the World Cup.

 

I would like to see Martins make it too. I hope he is called up for our friendly against Poland.